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Wallsend
Pensioners Association
BREAD AND BUTTER HEROES!
by Bill Bowman Secretary When thinking of heroes our minds naturally:
turn to those people who have performed acts of bravery. People
who, with disregard for their own safety have gone to the aid of
their fellows. They do of course, earn the admiration of us all
and rightly so. Sometimes they receive awards for their heroism.
But as much as I may admire them, to my mind the bravest of the
brave are those of the unsung variety. Men and women (most often
the latter) who dedicate so much of their lives to looking after
sick or infirm relatives. The `bread and butter heroes'.
Whilst those whose praises we sing or have medal pinned on their
chests more often than not perform their acts of valour
spontaneously' or upon a reckless impulse, the carers of this
world perform their selfless tasks 24 hours a day, seven days a
week and often for years on end.
In our Wallsend pensioners group we have many such men and
women. May I tell you of but two of them?
Take Mr. Mark Storey: Mark is not cast in the heroic
mould, just a quiet family man who gets on with life in a matter
of fact sort of way without attracting any undue attention.
During the last war he was a POW of the Japanese and when he
came home he married Hilda. Twenty years ago Hilda became very
ill - a permanent invalid - and for all those years, Mark looked
after her - waiting upon her hand and foot, doing literally
everything for her. He took her everywhere with him. In fact, he
gave her a life. Sadly Hilda died last October but I'm pleased
to say Mark remains an active member of our group.
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No medals for
Mark and Amy
but where would we be without them
and the thousands of other heroes and heroines like them? |
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Then there is Amy. Mrs. Amy Gilbert, to give her her full
title.
Amy has just completed 25 years service as a volunteer with Age
Concern: She is a lovely lass with a happy-go-lucky personality
- guaranteed to cheer up any company.
She has tackled a multitude of tasks for Age Concern:
She has been charlady at dances and other social functions, been
a visitor to the housebound who, I'm sure found her a tonic, and
more especially, Amy has been a volunteer worker in the Age
Concern charity shop on Wallsend High Street.
LILY BLOOMS AGAIN!
You may remember Mrs. Lily Groves,
another of our members who was featured in a previous edition of
Wallsender. Seventy-eight (78) year old Lily raised £738
for the charity Lung Foundation by abseiling down the Tyne
Bridge. This time, our intrepid Lily makes the news for a
very different reason; she has just won £50 worth of garden
equipment in a competition sponsored by The Sun newspaper.
The competition was for the most unusual floral design and Lily
- a very keen gardener though she admits her son now does the
heavy work - won her runner-up prize for her floral display
(before and after photographs) around, of all things, a
drain pipe!!!. |
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